Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Stock Price

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) had its price target cut by Piper Sandler from $305.00 to $270.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.27.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $231.74 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $243.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $245.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $193.46 and a 1 year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Ecolab will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. One Wealth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Bath Savings Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 71,701 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,801,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578 shares in the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $228,000. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 9,984 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,339,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 1,792 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.